Donna McAleer wins Summit County, loses elsewhere

Donna McAleer, a Pinebrook Democrat who was the party’s candidate in the 1st Congressional District, carried Summit County on Election Day for the second time but was beaten by wide margins elsewhere in the district as Republican Congressman Rob Bishop easily won re-election to a seventh term.

McAleer took 55.2 percent of the vote in Summit County, 5,816 votes, to Bishop’s 39.7 percent and 4,188 votes, according to results released on Election Day. Summit County makes up a small percentage of the electorate in the 1st Congressional District, however.

The results across the 1st Congressional District, which stretches through a wide swath of northern Utah, were lopsided. Bishop won re-election with 64.2 percent of the vote against McAleer’s 29 percent. The incumbent over the years has not enjoyed the same popularity in Summit County as he has elsewhere in the district.

It was the second consecutive contest between McAleer and Bishop following the 1st Congressional District campaign in 2012. Bishop won re-election in 2012 with 71.5 percent to McAleer’s 24.7 percent. It is believed Republican candidates in Utah in 2012 enjoyed a slight bump in their numbers with Mitt Romney, a popular figure in the state, at the top of the ticket that year in his unsuccessful bid for the White House.

McAleer attempted to unseat Bishop this year by labeling him a "guardian of gridlock." She charged he had a role in the shutdown of the federal government and criticized Bishop for accepting campaign contributions from corporate interests.

Bishop, though, told voters he could become the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources if he is re-elected, saying the position would be of significance for the state.

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Dwayne Vance, who lives in the Salt Lake Valley and has been an attorney based in Park City for nearly 20 years, garnered 3.2 percent of the vote in the 1st Congressional District. He campaigned as a member of the Independent American Party. In Summit County, he took 2.7 percent of the vote.

Other results in notable contests that involved portions of Summit County included:

Republican state Rep. Kraig Powell winning re-election in District 54 of the Utah House of Representatives. Powell, who is from Heber, bested Park City Democrat Glenn Wright with 61.4 percent of the vote to Wright’s 38.6 percent.

Wright took Summit County with nearly 63 percent of the vote to Powell’s 37 percent, but the Republican won the election with strong showings elsewhere in the district. The Summit County portion of District 54 includes Park City and parts of the Snyderville Basin.

Republican state Rep. Mel Brown winning re-election in District 53 of the Utah House of Representatives. Brown, who is from Coalville, won 67.5 percent of the vote. His Democratic opponent, Ray Worthen of Morgan, took 32.5 percent. Inside Summit County, Brown claimed 56.9 percent of the vote to Worthen’s 43.1 percent.

Republican state Sen. Kevin Van Tassell winning re-election in District 26 of the Utah Senate. Van Tassell, who is from Vernal, won 69.7 percent of the vote against the 30.3 percent of Wayne Stevens, the Democratic candidate. Stevens, though, won Summit County with 55.8 percent of the vote to the incumbent’s 44.2 percent. Voters elsewhere in the district delivered the win for Van Tassell.

3rd District Court Judge Ryan Harris being retained on the bench. Harris presided over a contentious lawsuit between Park City Mountain Resort and Talisker Land Holdings, LLC-Vail Resorts that was settled in September. He was retained with 74.5 percent of the vote throughout the judicial district. In Summit County, 77.2 percent of the voters supported his retention.